Solid state to tube

@ecpninja

on the Reference 3a Speakers website they openly tout that their speakers are very easy to drive and tube amplifier friendly. In fact, two amplifiers that they recommend for use with their speakers (Listed on site) are lower powered tube amplifiers. Here’s an old post regarding your speakers.

I heard both speakers at the Stereophile show in 2002.
The distributor for Reference 3A A/Bed the speakers.
He was using Antique Sound Labs 845 tube amps and an Antique Sound tube preamp.

The Reference 3a da capo’s were nice sounding monitors.
But the l’integral nouveau are much better speakers.
The main difference was the l’integral nouveau were much more fuller sounding and the bass was superior then the da Capo’s.
The l’integral nouveau have a very smooth sound with a sweet midrange and the bass is great.
Those were one of my favorite speakers at the show that year.

If you want no tube hassles, go for a model that uses 300B’s.  The new Western Electrics come with a 5 year warranty.  They are $1,500 a pair, but well worth it IMO in terms of SQ.

How do the class A/B amps compare to tubes since they have some class A output like tubes do? 

@ronboco  Not the same.

I just made the jump after years with solid state. I bought an ARC 3SE phono stage and immediately noticed the difference and the synergy with my turntable and the type of music I primarily play (1950s and 60s jazz.)

Based on this experience, I added an ARC preamp and power amp and am thrilled with the sound, even in these early days of tube burn-in. Of note, even my wife noticed the difference and she typically never hears the difference.